Here you will find our articles and guides on product costs, Value Analysis, Value Management and Value Engineering. The articles are arranged by topic, and their technical content is the responsibility of Dr.-Ing. Jörg Marchthaler.
Product Costs and Cost Optimisation
- Value Analysis for Existing Products systematically unlocking cost reduction potential.
- Value Engineering in New Product Development shaping costs before they are fixed.
- Development, Procurement and Production Together product costs do not belong to a single department.
- Systematic Product Cost Reduction considering customer requirements, functions, costs and technical solutions together.
- Target Costing and Design-to-Cost embedding cost targets early in product development.
- Reducing Product Variety which variants actually create customer value.
- Recognising Overengineering when technical performance creates no additional customer value.
- Cost-Benefit Assessment and Value Index reducing costs is not enough.
Cost Levers in Design and Procurement
- Standardisation and Modularisation not every product feature needs its own technical solution.
- Tolerances and Specifications as Cost Drivers correct, but unnecessarily expensive?
- Materials and Manufacturing Processes reducing material costs without stopping at the bill of materials.
- Make-or-Buy in Value Analysis more than a price comparison.
- Involving Suppliers in Value Analysis Projects using supplier knowledge early.
Cost Analysis and Cost Engineering
- Value Analysis and Cost Engineering differences, interfaces and interaction.
- Cost Transparency the basis of product cost optimisation.
- Cost Breakdown breaking down product costs in a structured way.
- Identifying Cost Drivers recognising not just cost items but their causes.
- Should Costing calculating technical costs transparently.
- Teardown and Product Benchmarking dismantling products and understanding them technically.
- Assigning Target Costs to Functions linking Target Costing and functions.
- Checking Supplier Quotations for Technical Plausibility understanding prices from a technical perspective.
- Total Cost Instead of Unit Price evaluating technical solutions holistically.
- Business Case for Cost Reduction Measures considering savings, effort and time together.
- Data, Assumptions and Uncertainty in Cost Engineering using cost models reliably.
Methodology
- A Function-Oriented Approach Instead of Component Optimisation the basic principle of Value Analysis.
- What Are Value Analysis / Value Engineering and Value Management? the fundamentals, with a 120-second short video.
- Value Analysis and Value Management: Differences and Connections
- Value Induction (Wertinduzierung) applying Value Management at strategic level.
- Function Analysis understanding the task, not the component.
- Function Cost Analysis understanding what the costs in a product are incurred for.
- Defining functions correctly, structuring and prioritising them – Function Analysis in detail.
- Allocating Function Costs from component costs to the cost of the function.
- Function Potential Analysis where further searching pays off.
- QFD and Customer Requirements from customer need to technical priority.
- Creativity in Value Analysis and TRIZ not leaving ideas to chance.
- Creativity Techniques at a Glance a chapter from the doctoral thesis of Dr.-Ing. Jörg Marchthaler.
- Evaluation in Value Analysis from many ideas to viable concepts.
- Concept Development in Value Analysis developing viable overall solutions from individual ideas.
- Weighted Paired Comparison weighting customer requirements, functions or evaluation criteria in pairs.
- Utility Analysis comparing fully developed alternative solutions using weighted criteria.
- Benchmarking in Value Analysis not copying, but understanding.
- Value-Oriented Corporate Management thinking about value beyond the individual project.
- Value Analysis, Lean, Six Sigma and BPM Compared which method suits which task?
- Value Analysis for Processes and Services not limited to technical products.
Value Analysis in Practice
- Introducing Value Analysis in Your Company starting with a pilot project.
- In-House Value Analysis Training learning the methods on your own product.
- The Value Analysis Work Plan the common thread in 10 steps.
- Roles in a Value Analysis Project who is responsible for what?
- Detailed Objectives and Evaluation Criteria a yardstick for good ideas.
- Risk Analysis in Value Analysis Projects seizing opportunities, making risks transparent.
- When Is the Right Time for Value Analysis?
- Cross-Functional Teamwork in Value Analysis Projects why Value Analysis works in teams.
- Implementation in Value Analysis Projects ideas must become actions.
- Success Factors for Value Analysis Projects what makes the difference before and after the workshop.
- Project Potential Assessment selecting the right cost reduction projects.
- Value Management Office anchoring value orientation in the company for the long term.
- The Role of the Value Analyst / Value Manager tasks, competencies and qualification.
New Developments
Publications
Articles, conference papers, book chapters and guideline work by Dr.-Ing. Jörg Marchthaler are listed chronologically in his expert profile – many of them available as PDF downloads.
Questions & Answers
Short answers to frequently asked questions about Value Analysis, Value Engineering, product costs, Function Analysis, Function Cost Analysis, consulting and qualification.